Playing with the dunes

Spanish painter Borja Gonzalez will work with his band to perform Dreams of Sand, a show that combines sand art, live music, big-sized puppets and "speed painting" in Beijing.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Spanish painter Borja Gonzalez will make his debut in China at the ongoing 17th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival with a rare show. Chen Nan reports.

One day about 12 years ago, Spanish painter Borja Gonzalez found a video of an artist doing drawings with sand. It was love at first sight.

"I discovered that drawing with sand is magical. Seeing how drawings are created, then transformed into stories hypnotizes you," says Gonzalez, 39.

It took him a while to learn the art since nobody in Spain knew the technique back then.

About 10 years ago, he had his first show combining sand art, live music, big-sized puppets and "speed painting". Since then, he has been dedicated to sand art.

One of his shows, Dreams of Sand, will make its debut in China on Saturday at the ongoing 17th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival, a major annual cultural event, which brings together artists from 22 countries.

"I have not been to China before. I am very excited because it is a dream come true for me," says Gonzalez.